Beaten, bruised, and bloodied. Mentally, emotionally, and physically on the breaking point. 17 hours in and 7 to go. Shivering from the cold and wind and trying to warm up my swollen hands, constricted by the wetsuit, by breathing my warm breath on them. I wanted to quit, I wanted to lie down, and I wanted to take that incredibly uncomfortable wetsuit off even though I knew it was the only thing holding my body together at that point. Why would anyone voluntarily put himself through this?
4 months ago, that was the situation I was in. Running through the sands of the Las Vegas desert with some of the world’s most insane, determined, and fit athletes. You could throw stubborn in there as well. World’s Toughest Mudder— Take a second, google it, wiki it, youtube it, or bing it. It’s an insane event: 24 hours of running an unforgiving and brutal 8km course.
Rewind to 4 months prior; after completing the Whistler Tough Mudder for the second consecutive year, I received an email. “Come out to Vegas and do an all-nighter you can tell your Mom about”. At this point in time I was looking for something that would push me to my mental and physical limit. Something that would truly challenge me above and beyond anything I had ever set out to do before. Without thinking twice, I registered.
The road leading up to the event was downright merciless. Countless kilometres run. Session after session of weight-lifting to keep my strength up. Evenings spent rolling and stretching, then taking epsom salt baths to try and get my body ready for the pain again the next day. To say it was a grind is an understatement.
Then it came; standing at the starting line, waiting to find out if all that hard work, all that dedication, all those runs through rain, wind, and cold, not to mention looking like a complete fool running around town in a wetsuit to break it in, were all worth it. And also to find out how much chafing a person could actually tolerate! My nerves grew until that gunshot went off and then everything just went away. I ran. And I ran some more. At that point I thought it’d be in my best interest to keep running.
And there I was, 17 hours in and a choice to make. Do I settle? Do I say that was good enough? Do I throw in the towel? No. I came here to see what I was made of. I came here to push myself beyond what I imagined I could do. So, with my two brothers-in-law pulling me back up onto my feet, it was time to see what I was capable of.
Just over 25 hours after I started, I completed my last lap. Over 120 km run/crawled/swum/somersaulted/leaped etc., around 10,000 m of elevation gain and approximately 300 Tough Mudder obstacles later, I crossed the finish line. Body beaten to absolute hell, but a huge grin across my face. And an even bigger grin when I was told that I finished 22nd overall in the world.
The first words out of my mouth when I sat down were something along the lines of “I am never *insert colourful language* doing that again!!” There is always an ironic twist in a good story.
I found out a couple weeks later I had qualified for this upcoming year’s Obstacle Course Racing World Championships held in Cincinnati. I thought hard about it, and decided I wasn’t ready to call it quits yet. I wanted to see what I could do with this. I committed.
Here I am already in the midst of a rigorous training schedule. Lead-up events all the way to October and November where I will be competing in the World Championships, World’s Toughest Mudder (see the ironic twist now!?), and, hopefully, the Spartan World Championships.
I am going to chronicle my story. Detail everything it takes for me to get across the finish line of that last event in November. The physical aspects – lead up events, training, diet. The emotional aspects – the highs and lows. The mental aspects – preparation, keeping motivated and on task. All the while, I hope to inspire, challenge, and motivate you to go and do something that scares you. Something that will challenge you beyond your normal boundaries. See what you are made of. There is a popular phrase used in the obstacle course community – “When is the last time you did something for the very first time?”
Jonathan Schouten, B.Kin
Professional Training Coach
Innovative Fitness Abbotsford
W: 6047463923
www.InnovativeFitness.com
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